Tobacco-cutting machine.



No. 673,402. Patented May 7, l90l. H; LEVY.

TOBACCO CUTTING MACHINE.

(N M d l 3 (Application filed Mar, 19, 19,01.)

IN VE N 70/? RI ETEns (to. vno'roumq, WASNWDTON u c NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HARRY LEVY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

TOBACCO-CUTTING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 673,402, dated May 7, 1901.

Application filed March 19, 1901. Serial No. 51,820. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HARRY LEVY, a citizen of the United States, residing in the borough of Manhattan, in the city of New York, county and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Tobacco-Cutting Machines, of which the following is a specification.

Myinvention relates to tobacco-cutting machines; and its novelty consists in the construction and adaptation of the cuttingplate to prevent the delivery of the material to the knife from being stopped or unduly retarded.

In Letters Patent of the United States No. 635,263, issued October 17, 1899, to myself and Max Himoff jointly, there is described a tobacco-cutting machine in which the cuttingplate has a rigid aperture through which the material to be cut is forced by the action of the compression rolls and apron. I have found by experience that the mass of tobacco, especially when it is wet, is apt to choke at the mouth of the cutting-plate or to become retarded, so that it is not ready for the action of the knife when the latter is ready to descend in front of the cutting-plate.

The object of my present invention is to overcome this difficulty. This I do by providing one portion of the mouth or aperture of the cutting-plate with means whereby when the pressure of the material is such that the tobacco is apt to become choked with the ordinary cutting-plate a portion of the plate is caused to yield under such pressure and'allow the exit of the tobacco through the mouth of the plate.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of the standards and cutting-plate of a tobacco-cutting machine provided with my improved device, and Fig. 2 is a central vertical section of the same.

In the drawings, A and A are two standards or plates from which the other parts of the machine are supported.

B is the cutting-plate, secured by screws 6 or other suitable means to the front of the standards A A and provided with a central aperture A, through which the tobacco to be cut is projected, being propelled forward by the action of the apron O and the rollers D and D in the manner usual in the art and which needs no particular description. The

lower lip E of the cutting-plate and its side pieces E and E are of usual form and have an exterior plane surface against which the knife presses as it descends in close contact therewith. The upper lip F of the cuttingplate is not rigid, however, like the lower lip E, but consists of a plate f, hinged to swing upon a pintle f, secured in suitable hearings in the standards A and A. The lower part of the platefslopes at f, so as to guide the tobacco toward the aperture A". The upper part of the platef is curved at f to encircle or inclose the roller D, and at its upper edge isattached to one or more coiled springs G, which are in turn secured to the standards A .A by any suitable means, as by the hooks g g. A lug 9 serves as a stop to prevent the undue and forward oscillation of the plate The action of my device is as follows When the tobacco approaches the aperture A" in its forward course and becomes clogged for any reason, the upward pressure against the lowersurface f of the plate f causes the latter to swing upon the pintle f until it. assuinesa position such as that shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 2. This relieves the pressure upon the mass of tobacco and permits of its projection through the aperture A. The retraction of the springs G G brings the plate f back into place and its forward oscillation is prevented by means of the stop g.

It will be observed that with the construction described it is impossible for the part of platef below the spindle f to rise above or to the horizontal plane, its upward movement being limited substantially to the inclined position shown in dotted lines by the curved upper portion f, which acts as a stop. It will be further observed that the upper surface of this forward part of the plate is rounded off at its front edge. By reason of this construction and arrangement the knife in moving down will always press the front edge of platef down with it, it being impossible for such plate to assume a position in which it would obstruct the movement of the knife.

I may of course use other yielding means to retard the oscillation of the plate f, and other means than the lug g to prevent the forward motion of the plate, but such modifications are quite within the skill of persons skilled in the artand within the :scope of my invention.

What I claim as new is- In a tobacco-cutting machine, the combi- 4 nation with the side standards of the frame, a cutting-plate having rigid sides "and lower l lip, and an upper feed-roller, of a plate pivoted intermediate its front and rear edges to said standards, the portion fo'rw ard of the pivot being downwardly and forwardly inclined and forming a yielding upper lip for the cutting-plate 'a'nd that portion rearward of the pivot being curved upward over the feed-roller, springs for normally forcing the 

